Pat Benatar knows that having her and husband Neil "Spyder" Giraldo opening shows for Cher raises some eyebrows. But she says that "it's actually been fun."

"We know each other because we live in the same town (in California)," Benatar, 61, says. "Our daughter dated her godson for two years, and we've jsut been kind of like neighbors for a long time. We know each other casually like that, (through) school and everything -- not the hang thing but we've been having a lot of fun on this trip, so it's been good."

Benatar and Giraldo are also celebrating their own trip this year -- 35 years since they met while recording her debut album, 1979's "In the Heat of the Night." Since then the couple -- who married in 1982 and have two grown daughters -- have sold more than 25 million albums with 19 Top 40 singles and won four Grammys. And they're hardly done, as they're working on a pair of Christmas albums as well as new material for a standard studio album.

"It's a little surreal," Benatar notes. "Every night I say to the audience that Spyder and I never could have anticipated standing her 35 years later; we were hoping for five years. So it's been a really amazing surprise.

"But, y'know, we started everything together. Our musical life started together. Our romantic life started together. Everything started at the same time, so this is the only way we know how to have a relationship. We have kids together. We have a life besides our musical life, and that's what keeps everything together."